The International Animation Festival in Hiroshima is often referred to as the most organized animation festival in the world, and for good reason. Every screening, symposium, publication, party, exhibition, press conference and ceremony of the festival was expertly timed, translated and presented by a dedicated group of staff members and volunteers. For details on specific programs, please read Monique Renault's personal account of the week's events
elsewhere in this issue.
What is really so unique about Hiroshima is its simultaneous dedication to the art of animation and the promotion of international peace. For five days and nights, films and people from 53 countries around the world joined together in a city which has rebuilt itself in the name of peace. Festival director Sayoko Kinoshita notes that, "We chose Hiroshima [for the festival location] because it has a certain power. Visitors cannot be here without thinking about the preciousness of peace."
The following photos highlight some of the people and events that made this festival so memorable.
Hubert Tison (Canada), Jean-Luc Xiberras (Annecy Animation Festival, France) Georges Lacroix (Fantôme, France) and Nicole Salomon (A.A.A., France) at Friday night's party.
Nicole Salomon (France) and Monique Renault (Netherlands) taking a break between screenings.
Wendy Jackson gets Lappy happy in Hiroshima. The festival's animated mascot, Lappy, has a name derived from the combination of the words "love", "peace" and "happy".
Sayoko and Renzo Kinoshita (Japan).
Kihachiro Kawamoto, Vice President Hiroshima '96.
Virginia Bacheler & Skip Battaglia (USA).
Front row, left to right: Oksanna Cherkassova with daughter Jena (Russia), Sarah Watt (Australia), Robert Gudan (Australia), Jacques Drouin (Canada) & Hironori Terai (Japan). Center row: Garry Bardin (Russia), Kathy Rose (USA), Sayoko Kinoshita (Japan), Raoul Servais (Belgium) & Borivoj Dovnikovic (Croatia). Rear: Andrej Khrjanovsky (Russia), Hubert Tison (Canada), Georges Lacroix (France), Yoichiro Kawaguchi (Japan) & David Anderson (UK).